THERE’S no doubt that Sky is king of telly but the company’s heading in a whole new direction with its latest product.
Sky Live is an interactive video camera that attaches to Sky Glass, allowing you to chat with family, play games using motion and even do fitness.
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Of course, we’ve seen a lot of this before in some form or other.
But not conveniently tied into your TV package and so heavily linked to our favourite shows and films.
It’s not cheap – but it could save me money in a way I didn’t expect in the long run.
Read on to find out how…
Sky Live: Set-up
Sky Live is a compact camera device that sits on top of your Sky Glass TV, fitting perfectly on top and staying firmly in place thanks to magnets.
It’s pretty discreet looking.
Setting it up is super easy with two cables that go directly into the back of your Sky Glass TV.
A HDMI and a USB-C cable – so you don’t even need to free up a plug.
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The installation screen will instantly appear and within a few minutes you’re good to go. Simple.
There’s a button on the top which switches off the device instantly for anyone concerned about privacy.
Sky says a white light appears on the front whenever it’s on so know straight away.
The camera is 12-megapixels with a 106° wide field of view which looks great on screen.
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Sky Live: Chat and watch together
Sky Live uses Zoom for its video chat features, meaning you can talk to anyone with a Zoom account whether they have a Sky Glass / Sky Live kit or not.
It’s just a free Zoom account as standard, so calls can only go on for 40 minutes at a time (plenty for me personally).
Things get more interesting with Watch Together, similar to what you may recall from lockdown days on Netflix and Disney+.
I tried it with Sky reps during a demo and it worked perfectly during a game of cricket.
I can definitely see how sports fans can make use of this watching a big game with mates from afar.
Four screens showing them all live appear next to the main feed – you can put a live TV channel on or on demand Sky content.
The only thing is, all my mates need to have Sky Glass and Sky Live to make use of this – which currently stands at zero, so until they upgrade I’m stuck with watching and sending WhatsApp messages.
Sky Live: Games and fun bits
Sky’s always had a bit of a secret gaming side-hustle – I loved Beehive Bedlam on Sky+.
Sky Live takes things a level up with motion-enabled games which use AI-powered body tracking and gesture controls.
There are some classics like Fruit Ninja, that allow you to slice with a wave of your arms, as well as multiplayer titles like Monopoly.
But Starri, a body-controlled rhythm game is good fun, as I attempt to move to Lady Gaga‘s Poker Face – I can see this being a bit of a crowd pleaser at my next house party.
Sky showed The Sun a demo of an upcoming Peppa Pig game that I think will really appeal to families.
It’s a proper Peppa Pig episode with sections you have to interact with – for example, Peppa jumps in a puddle and asks you to do the same.
Sky also has something called VideoBooth, which allows you to play around with Snapchat-like filters.
Some are themed around shows or movies available on Sky such as Trolls.
You can even sit yourself in the studio of Sky Sports News.
They can be sent to friends and family via WhatsApp and other social apps.
Sky Live: Fitness
The fitness feature Mvmnt is the real standout for me.
I hate gyms and find it difficult to fit sessions in around work.
And gym subscriptions aren’t cheap either.
Mvmnt has more than 130 interactive workouts, including a range of strength, mobility, Pilates and yoga classes.
But this isn’t any ordinary on demand content.
The camera will keep an eye on your form in real-time, scoring you points on how well you’re doing.
It repeatedly told me my back wasn’t straight enough when I did a squat.
A virtual coach gives me feedback at the end of each session, making it all seem more authentic.
Sky Live: Cost
Sky Live doesn’t come cheap.
To buy it outright costs you a whooping £290.
You can buy it interest-free at £6 per month – but that’s on a lengthy 48 month contract.
There’s a 24 month option too, at £12 per month.
Sky Live: Verdict
There’s no doubt that Sky is reinventing the way we watch TV as it has done time and again.
But Sky Live feels like a very pricey way of going about it.
Ultimately, it really depends on what / how much you can get out of it.
If you’re looking to do fitness and have some equipment, you could give up the gym entirely in favour of this and it would work out as a saving.
And the bigger the family, the more you’ll get out of it too, with young kids undoubtedly enjoying the high quality games.
Watch Together seems like a good idea for sports but without friends using Sky Glass and Sky Live for now it’s of no use to me.
Sky is in this for the long ride, already developing new games with partners and refining the technology so it will eventually detect tiny things like finger movements.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
